


Fire on Our Shores

by deltasrogue



Category: Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Malloy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, Elemental Magic, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Royalty, tags will also be added but this gives a basic summary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:54:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28930587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deltasrogue/pseuds/deltasrogue
Summary: There's a war going on, somewhere out there...
Relationships: Fyodor "Fedya" Ivanovich Dolokhov/Anatole Vasilyevich Kuragin, Marya Dmitryevna Akhrosimova/Elena "Hélène" Vasilyevna Kuragina
Kudos: 10





	Fire on Our Shores

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very random, obscure idea I came up with. This lays out the basics of what is happening. If anyone is into it, I'll get more into a storyline and Marya next chapter! Please let me know if you guys like this in the comments xx
> 
> For reference, kingdom correlations go as follows:  
> Fountai- Helene  
> Ignis- Marya  
> Terr- Old Bolkonsky  
> Aevo- TBA ;)

There had never been a world in which Marya and Helene should have gotten along. That much was clear the moment they were face to face for the first time. Honey brown eyes were not nearly as gentle as Marya anticipated them to be, running over her with nothing but cold calculation. This was not how Queen Kuragina got described to her on the way over to the town. No, the man driving the carriage described her a gentle, docile little thing. It was a humorous depiction considering the reality of the woman in front of her.

The sky had been darkened by the night and the buildings as they passed had been quite challenging to discern; there were occasional torches to light the cobblestone streets less traveled and classic lamposts raised well over the height of most the kingdom's houses and development. Still, things had been quiet aside from the occasional laughter of children or the murmurs from those returning from a hard day's work. People were talking about _her._ Not necessarily the Queen of the kindom to the east, but that whoever was being brought by the dappled grey harness horse must have been important; this gelding was apparently one of the Queen's favorites. "A noble animal" is what the driver said passively before giving a flick of the reins and sending the animal trotting down along the banks of the river. Marya had been told of this woman's light countless times, and yet the town seemed so... _dim._ The castle was hardly any better, made with dark stone, though the pillars and towers that were tall enough to scrape the clouds were accented with black and white marble. The reputation contradicted everything Helene was, yet the castle seemed to encompass it. 

Helene stood in front of her in a way that despite her eye level being several inches below Marya’s, she felt grander. Her back was pole-straight, lips formed into a scowl. Most of her arms were exposed, showing off toned muscles and a navy-ink tattoo ran from a point covered by the neckline of her dress spanned in spirals down the outside of her arm to her elbow, a simple trace of a wave in white wrapped around the center of her bicep. A black dress embossed with the sparkling stones found by the lake was her outfit of choice: one that was simultaneously just as showy as she would expect from a new queen and yet everything dark and mysterious she hadn’t heard about. It was everything Marya did not expect, and she could not help the sinking feeling she had just been blindsided. If there was one thing the redheaded woman did not like, it was surprises.

The moment was very long; it occurred to Marya very suddenly what Helene was waiting for: she was expecting Marya to bow. That had not happened in ages. A queen of her own Kingdom, Marya had not been on her knees to worship anyone but God himself. One queen bowing to another had never been seen before, not by this age of guardsmen and servants, but Marya knew custom well. She was not on her own soil anymore, and what was to become of them if this initial meeting went well brought Marya to her knees, the metal end of her sword gently tapping the cobblestone as she lowered.

“I take it the ride was smooth?” Helene asked while Marya’s head was still lowered. It was difficult to discern her tone, even more difficult without seeing her face. “Thank you,” It was said in the form of a dismissal from the position she’d been in. Marya was quick to break from it, inspecting the burgundy fabric of her skirt for a moment before responding.

“I am used to faster,” It was meant as a shot, but Helene did not seem to take it as such, offering the first smile Marya had ever seen from her. In the portraits she’d seen around the cities as she passed through them, she had never looked joyous. That should have been her first sign about the truth behind this woman’s personality, really.

“Ah, yes, well,” Helene clicked her tongue, fingers pinching the charm around her neck between her fingers. “Dragons are not permitted in the skies here. I hope you can understand,” The remark was either earnest or mocking, and Marya could not figure it out. “There is a war, Marya. Surely you know that,” Something about the way this woman sighed her name made chills run violently up her spine. It was not a welcome sensation; her nails dug into the handle of her blade.

“Are there no dragons at all on this side of the river?” Marya questioned, watching the woman nod in consensus. The concept of such was unfathomable.

“It is easy to discern enemies,” Helene declared, voice again shining with a strange form of apathy. “We cannot waste our abilities on disaster remediation. All resources are finite, as you know,”

“How do you expect this war alliance to work if half my army cannot enter your skies?” Marya asked the obvious, admittedly not the most tactfully as she could _feel_ the energy shift in Helene’s stare.

“I would surely hope your warriors at least know how to fight,” Helene pointed out with a raised brow, watching as Marya’s scowl deepened. Marya did not like surprises, and she did not like being insulted. Fortunately, at least this time, Helene admitted her mistake in amended words, “I have heard great things about the individuals who defend Ignis, and can only hope they will be able to defend here as well as my army can assist with yours,”

“Perhaps we can make an arrangement,”

“Well, that is what we are here to do, no?” Marya took a deep breath. This was not a woman she wanted to be speaking with. There was something more sinister to her than had ever been let on, and in this moment, trying to take alliances with Helene and the kingdom of Fountai did not seem as appealing as it had in the letters exchanged between them.

“With all due respect, Helene,” Marya arched her back, sticking her head up the slightest bot higher. “If you did not come for me for my fire power-“ Helene snorted, seeming all the more amused with Marya’s confusion. Her eyes squinted slightly, nose crinkled. “What?”

“I liked the pun,”

“There was no pun,”

“Ignis is known for elemental abilities in-“ Helene paused her explanation, seeing the derision in the redhead’s eyes and averted her own for the first time. _This was not meant to make friends,_ she scolded herself with the words Vasily had told her in her youth. “What did I want to align myself with you for is the question?” Helene tried again, focusing her gaze on the amulet of garnet webbed in gold around her throat.

“Precisely,” Marya cleared her throat.

“How well-informed are you of the land’s social politics?”

“I don’t need the background. I need you to get to the point,” Marya had always been direct in her needs. She was a woman of sharp words and respect: respect for her own time, minutes of which Helene was wasting with half-jokes and vague ideations of her expectations. She had a kingdom to tend to and a war to prepare for. The woman may have had a _presence,_ for all that it was worth, however that alone would never be enough to keep her there. Certainly not under a guise of cold formality, or unexpected humor.

“The King of Aevo, the eldest Bolkonsky, has committed war crimes over the fight for the center of the land. I was not going to get involved, but…”

“But you were going to be dragged into it anyway, right…” Marya murmured more to herself than to Helene, the weight hitting her suddenly. Because really, the woman’s hands were tied. Marya had heard about the instance-everyone had. The older Bolkonsky killed a traveller that trailed along the river of Helene’s territory. Fountai would be forced to take a stance given it was their land the traveler stepped from. And once they did, the war would erupt over the neutral territory again. It was inevitable: a routine that had been played out and well-documented for decades. The kingdoms of earth and air were at war, and the water elementals have just been pulled in-

“And you’re going to be next,” Helene concluded Marya’s thought aloud with an empty tone. “You may as well make alliances now to prepare,” This woman did not fear her, and she did not know how to feel under the pressure of that realization.

“And if I wanted to fight alone?”

“You wouldn’t have agreed to my invitation,” Their eyes locked, and Helene’s eyebrows raised.

Marya cleared her throat. “If I said no?”

“Then you would lose all public favor, access to the river, and, in the end, the war,”

“Are you threatening me?”

“It is not my intention, but you know how these wars work, Marya,” Helene sighed, turning her back and beginning to walk towards the walls. She must not have been ruling as long as her dignity suggested if she turned her back so easily without hesitation. “You will either end up on the side of a war criminal or mine,”

“I do not like you, Helene,” Marya spoke through gritted teeth with nothing but honesty, though Helene’s response was a mere smile.

“But?”


End file.
